


What Rhymes With Mullet?

by StarlightDragon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1960s, Alternate Universe - Human, Cutesy, Dogs, First Kiss, Flowers, Fluff, Guitars, Happy Ending, Living Together, M/M, Music, Sappy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-27 12:57:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10021670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarlightDragon/pseuds/StarlightDragon
Summary: or, Five Times Lance McClain Pet A Dog. It's the summer of 1967 and Lance just wants to be left alone to meditate in the dog park, but this weird rocker  with a permanent scowl keeps running into him and messing that up.





	

**Author's Note:**

> so i love klance because how is it not possible to love those cuties and this is the first thing ive written for them cause i got inspired by [this art by rachelhuey88 on tumblr](http://rachelhuey88.tumblr.com/post/156123230395/best-boy-lance-mcclain)
> 
> and it made me thing of a summer of love au where lance is the softest hippie in all of london who just likes flowers and dogs, and keith is, well, keith

1

"I dunno, man. I guess dogs just like me."

Lance gave an apologetic shrug and closed his eyes, running his hands through the dog's soft fur as the two of them laid together on the top of a grassy hill. The sun was going down, and it was time for his evening meditation session. Or, at least, it had been until a tiny golden Labrador puppy had bounded over the top of the hill and straight into Lance's lap, refusing to leave.

A kid about Lance's age, dressed in a leather jacket, ripped black pants and combat boots had followed a few minutes later, head down and scowling.

"Yeah, whatever. Well, this ain't my dog, I'm walking him for a friend, and I really need to get him home so that I can have my morning coffee."

Lance checked his watch, bemused. No, he hadn't got it wrong. "It's seven thirty PM."

"Yeah. Your point?"

Lance frowned, scratching between the dog's ears. The other kid shoved his hands into his pockets, shifting from foot to foot, waiting.

"Alright, Lobelia. I think it's time for you to go back home to your daddy." Lance gave the puppy one final kiss on the nose, before sending him scampering back to the other guy.

The kid grabbed him roughly and scooped him up, stomping his way down the hill. Over his shoulder he called, "His name's Cheddar. And I'm not his daddy."

 

2

_"Oh what she does to me, when she makes love to me and she says, don't worry baby, don't worry baby, everything will turn out alright. Don't worry baby, don't worry baby..."_

Lance strummed a final chord on his acoustic guitar to a smattering of applause around him, a few kids tossing pennies and cigarettes into his guitar case. Lance smiled and tipped his head back, basking in the May sunlight, caring more about putting a smile on people's faces than any reward he might get from it.

"Fucking idiot. Can't even write your own damn songs," a voice muttered.

Lance frowned, running a hand through his long, wavy hair. "I'm sorry?"

A pale kid with a mullet stepped forwards, hands on his hips. Lance recognized him, but he wasn't sure from where. 

"You looking for a fight? I'll give you a fight, I'll smash you and your dumb ass guitar."

Lance's eyes widened. "We shouldn't be fighting. We should be working towards peace, and harmony."

"Peace and harmony my ass." The kid snatched a cigarette out of Lance's guitar case and lit it up, taking a long drag. "Ain't nothing good ever come out of that."

"Well, that's just not true," Lance admonished. "Here. Come with me. I'll show you the most peaceful, most harmonious place in the world. And I guarantee it will make you smile."

The kid debated, pouting moodily. "Fine. Give me what's in your guitar case and I'll come with you."

"Gladly," Lance beamed, getting up and gesturing for the guy to follow him. "I'm Lance McClain, by the way."

"Keef."

Keith scuffed the toes of his combat boots on the pavement as he walked, refusing to look Lance in the eye.

"And what's got you so upset on a beautiful summer's day like today, Keith?"

Lance almost expected Keith to just grunt and not answer the question, but he didn't. "Got kicked out of the college music school. Apparently I wasn't playing nice enough with the other guys. The fuck is this, daycare?"

Lance opened his mouth to respond, but he was cut off.

"Don't you dare spout some hippie bullshit bout how everything happens for a reason. I don't wanna hear it. Buy me a bottle of whiskey if you want to help."

Lance just smiled, gesturing to the park they'd just arrived at. "Here we are. Best dog park in London. Spend an afternoon here, and your problems won't seem so bad."

 

3

Lance approached the bench in the dog park as the sun began to rise. A skinny figure covered in a red blanket lay there, snoring steadily. Lance tiptoed towards him, trying not to wake him, prying his fingers open to slide the five pound note inside.

The figure jumped, throwing his fist into Lance's face and sending him sprawling onto the grass. "That'll teach you to mess with my space lions!"

Lance frowned, rubbing his forehead. "I'm sorry. I'd never try to mess with your space lions. I just wanted to give you some money to help you out."

"Sorry. Weird dreams. Wait, Lance?" The guy sat up, pushing his hair out of his eyes and balling up his blanket.

Lance opened his mouth in surprise. "Keith?"

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock."

"What are you doing here?" Lance got shakily to his feet, pulling a smoothie out of his tote bag and taking a long sip. "You didn't sleep here, did you?"

Keith shrugged, looking down at the mud on the ground. "Yeah. Guess I did. Been coming here a lot since you showed it to me. People are pretty cool here, I guess. An' they have dogs. An' then my bandmates kicked me out of our house when they fucking went and got famous without me, so I guess I live here now."

Lance took a deep breath, glancing up and down the moody kid with too much eyeliner and heavy shoes that definitely weren't going to be kind to driftwood floors.

"Come stay with me for a while."

 

4

"And you told _me_ off for sleeping outside."

Lance stretched, giving himself another moment to bask in the sunlight before opening his eyes. Keith let himself stare unashamedly for a moment, looking at the pretty picture Lance made in his white tunic, surrounded by all the soft blue flowers that he was growing in the garden, a few forget me nots braided into his hair, bare feet wit their bright sparkly toenails that Keith had painted last week.

"This is different," Lance mumbled, giving his roommate a soft smile and patting the ground next to him. "Last night was the summer solstice. I had to spend it outside."

Keith usually thought that laying down on the ground was for six year olds and overweight cats, but he also wasn't capable of much thought when he was around Lance, so he got down on the ground and laid next to him.

"So, what are you growing here?"

Lance let out a breathy laugh, even though Keith hadn't said anything funny. "Hyacinths, larkspur, cornflowers, lupins, forget me nots, bellflowers. Oh, and lobelias."

Something sparked in Keith's mind. "Lobelia. That was what you tried to name that dog. That time you were meditating on the hill."

Lance gave a tiny gasp. "That was you?"

"Yeah. Course it was me. How many other people this gorgeous do you know?"

Lance smiled, and didn't deny it. 

"You should bring your friend over sometime. The one who owns Cheddar."

Keith snorted. "No fucking way. You'll love him. You're both so positive. I would spontaneously combust."

"I'll make a vegetable fondue."

Keith wanted to thank Lance for letting him move in. He wanted to reach out and take Lance's hand.

He didn't.

 

5

_"Oh, the way that you smile when you smell that hot coffee, and the love that you have for your mullet. Oh, the leather clothes that you won't wear til you've got them all soft-y and_... fuck, what rhymes with mullet?"

Hunk burst out laughing, rubbing Cheddar's belly and shaking the tambourine Lance had given him. "That's a tough one."

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Keith flopped on the ground next to them, scowling, sweating because it was the hottest day of the year so far and he refused to take off his jacket. "Making fun of me?"

"We're not making fun of you. You said once that I couldn't write my own songs, so... I wanted to write one about you, to prove you wrong, and to show you that you're important to me."

Keith stared. Lance had said that like it was easy for him. Like he could just talk about how he felt without running away immediately after and hating himself for the next ten years.

It was a radical concept.

"Oh."

"Hunk was helping me. We didn't expect you to be in the park today. It was going to be a surprise."

"...oh."

"...do you have anything to say other than 'oh'?"

Keith nodded and cleared his throat, gesturing to the small lake that ran through the park. "Hunk, man, maybe you should take Cheddar over to the stream? He looks a bit hot."

Hunk glanced from Keith to Lance and back, a knowing smile on his face. "You are so right. Gotta take care of the little guy in this weather!"

Keith waited until Hunk and Cheddar were nothing more than small blurs on the horizon. Then he turned, and, in the middle of the dog park at high noon with people wandering all around them, he rolled Lance McClain onto his back and kissed him.

 

+1

"Morning, sunshine," Lance grinned, hopping up onto the kitchen counter and holding out a steaming cup of coffee to his boyfriend. "You're up early."

It was three o'clock in the afternoon. "Mmmf," Keith grunted, grabbing the coffee and chugging half of it at once. "Yeah. Got a surprise for you. You better be grateful."

"I hope the surprise isn't another all night practice with your new band. I've told you. The sound waves can hurt the artwork."

"Whatever. Modern art is dumb. I've told you we should just paint this place black like normal people."

"By the artwork, I was talking about you."

Lance smirked to himself when he saw that Keith's face was as red as his new guitar.

The doorbell rang. Keith padded across the hall in his rattiest Rolling Stones shirt to open it.

"Hey, Keith!" came an excited voice from a girl in a green dress.

"How the hell do you have so many friends?" Lance muttered to himself, shaking his head affectionately - but the thought was knocked out of his head when Keith turned around, and Lance saw what he was now holding.

Keith was cradling a tiny Pomeranian puppy in his arms, trying his best to hold onto the small ball of fluff, even though the dog was desperately trying to escape, leaping up and down and lapping its tongue excitedly.

"Yeah, uh, happy birthday or something. Didn't know what to get you cause I can't spell most of the weird stuff you like. Thought this might work."

The tiny smile on Keith's face said that he'd put a lot more thought into this than he was pretending.

Lance wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's shoulders, their lips melting together, Lance whispering, "thankyou, it's perfect, I love it, I love _you_ ," in between kisses.

When Lance pulled away, he had an armful of completely docile cuddly puppy nuzzling into his chest.

Keith pouted. "How the hell did you do that?"

"I dunno, love. I guess dogs just like me."

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr!!
> 
> main blog [**@casandsip**](http://guardianangelmisha.co.vu)  
>  multifandom (inc. voltron) sideblog [**@hitchhikersguidetofandom**](http://hitchhikersguidetofandom.tumblr.com)


End file.
